Service box



2P. MUELLER ET AL SERVICE; BOX

Filled Jan. 28 1920 2vSheets-Sheet 1 L? P. Mur-:LLER ET AL SERVICE BOX Filed Jan. 28 1920 2 Skeletal-Sheet 2 E am Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

oui-reo -s'rares reifen-r Loi-"rlic-if..

vri-rILIr' MUELLER..Ann Roena'r;;H--;MUELLna, or encarna, ILLINOIS; .AssIGNoRs 'To' ADOLPHMUELLER; TRUSTEE, or. Lucarne', ILLINOIS.

- SERVICE. BOX.

' Application ledfilanuary 28, 1920. Serial No'..'354,694.

To all whom t may concern.'

`Beit known that PmLir MmLLnn and ROBERT H. MUELLER, citizens of the United States, residing at Decatur, Vin the `county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Service Boxes, of which the'. following is a speciiication. Y

The present invention. relates to Yservice boxes and has forfitsobject to provide a serv-ice box which may be cheaplymanufactured and readily assembled, andinvwhich the parts makingrupthe combination are ',of suclnconstruction asL that, they may be ;.made vwith a minimumbfrmachining and finishing The construction whichwe .havef.dev.`el

oped and which is here .illustrated VYand de` scribed insures a service box which, when assembled,l will be :readily adjustable to the 'various conditions: under which .itl is installed; which, when.installed,.will protect the-corporation cock from the deleterious effects of leakagev in and about the service box; and. in which all'danger of .lling soV as to prevent access 'to the service eock'for manipulation is eliminated.

In thev drawings herewith, we have illustrated embodiments' of our invention but it `willbezunderstood that variations mechanil cally may be made without departing from "the principle involved. 'Y

In the drawings: `-Figure l-Yis a` view, for the mostpart in section, of a. service box embodying our improvements.

Figure 2 is a view in V.cross-section on substantially the line 2-2 of'Figurel.

Figure 3 isa view' in cross-section. sub- 40 stantial-ly on the lineB--B of VFigure l, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a sectional `viewofthe upper part of the' lower .member of the service box. :Figure 5 isi a view ,of Ytheiuppier endof lthe.lowerymember showingtheinethod of inserting the gasket.

Figures 6 and7 arey views offthe gasket. YFigurefS is a'view similar. to'. Figure l showing the service box, .the corporation cock andthe cock operating key.

Figure 9 isY a view invsection, similar to `Figure, l, showing; a. slightly diferent vforni refassembly, i

, e In order that Figure 10 is aview, illustrating another development ofthe invention. i

Referring tok the]` drawings by numbers,

like numbers indicating like partsvin the several views, l0 indicatestthe lowerhm'ember of the service box which., in' itsgeneral makeup, is somewhatsimilar tothe service Iboxes now in'use,liaving the .enlarged lower 'end or housing which covers' the'xcorporation cock. and the reduced upper' endprojecting therefrom, and Yintegral therewith. The said .member l0 is preferably cast and at its upper end has a- 'cast-in'gasket 4receiving groove -or -wardly turned' annularfribs"`14Vzcast atrthe upper. end` of themember' k10.130 form 'the groove 1l. V

there may 'be' a-s'ealedjoint between the` members 10; and 13 Y'andorre which will also maintainthey parts frictionally in adjusted positiom'we provide a sealing and gripping.- gasket 15 "formedy as shown, of a' 'strip of packingmaterialfpreferably rectangular in 'cross-' sectionfand' cut with' the inclinedv ends vas shown,-so that when-overlapped, theV gasket will beI continuous. TheV cross-sectional areaof this packing ring 15 is suchitliat'wh'enfitis'finserted in the recess. or seat.l 11' jin tlieupperend of the member 10, 'it willprojectiinto 'the Vbore of the member 10 and form` a sealing and gripping ring' to `engage the upper member 13, seal the jointbetween' the twoi effectively against the ingressof dirtand moi'sture,-and also serve to.maintain..the,parts, by reasonV -of its friction, in any'fpositionof adjustment relative to each' other to'which v'they may be brought. "Furthermore, it 'prevents contact of metal '.with. metal anddanger of the `parts becoming rusted .together and set'after'they have been in one;v position: for* any 'considerable length of time 'is eliminated.

"The, ring'. 15,. as stated, iis ofconsiderably larger area4 in: cross-section'th'an' the' recess.

11 so that it will project within the bore a proper distance, and it must be set tightly in lplace so as to permit the sliding passage of the member 13 and yet seal the joint and grip that member. We, therefore, preferably install this ring 15 in the manner shown in Figure 5, first by inserting it in place and then by a suitably shaped mandrel 16 forcing the ring 15 snugly to its seat, the mandrel 16 being of substantially the same diameter as the member 13.

"By utilizingv this packing ring, weare enabled to cast the lower member with the recess or seat and avoid the necessity of machining that seat toreceive a spring clamp- ..ing ring of metal, for the packing ring will or drawn tubing which-'may be conven-y accommodate itself to surface inequalitiesY in the casting and give an efficient sealing member for the joint` and gripping member formaintaining the parts 1n proper position.

` f Itawill be observed that the diameter of the member 13, since it isdefined by the ribs 14, is considerably less than the diameter of the body portionfof the member 10. It

is essential, however, thatthe members 10 and 13 be maintained in alignment both to prevent jamming of thev parts and consequent diiculty of manipulation and adjustment but also in order that the turning key which 'is passed down into the service box, when. the Vcock is to be manipulated, Vwill be directedl Asurely tothe cock. Ink order to maintainrthe vmember. T13 in direct alignment with the member 10, we provide, at the lower end ofthe member YA13, lugs 17 which are Vformed by `punching out sections of the metal of the tubingV from which the member 13 is formed, andY this may be done without the necessity ofheating the metal since the memberl 13-is made 'of wrought iently worked for this operation in a cold staten. Thenumberofthese lugs 17 may, of

course, be varied but we have shown four which will eectively maintain the member 13 againsttilting in any direction and ini sureits Yproper alignment. VVIn addition to this function, Vthe lugs 17 have the further function of preventing rotation of the member 13 in eitherdirection when the ground cap 18 or its cover which are usually screw threaded in place, are removed or inserted,

#.thelugs 17engaging the longitudinally disposed ribs 12 on vthe inside -of the memberV As' shown in Figure 8, the cock key 19 which, as is'customary, is at the end of a ylong operating rod, will be guided straight down to the cock key by the alined member 13 so that any chance thatthe cock may `not be readily engaged because of tilting of the membersout of alignment is eliminated.

.-In Figure Y9, we .have shown a different mannerfof settingthelgasket 15 than ,thefone shown in Figure 4i5.' A'Inm'this method of as` sembling, the removable mandrel 2O will be inserted in the top of the member 13 and thrust upwardly of the member 10 past the packing ring 15 so as to set it in the manner heretofore described. After the member 13 has been passed upwardly into properuposition, the mandrel Y2O will be removed and the cap or ground piece 18 attached as by screw threading or in any suitable manner to the upper endnofthe member 13.

ln the form shown in Figure 10, the lower member willbe composed of the cast base portion 27 having secured therein -the up struction, lugs 29 may be struck out at the Yupper end of thetubingsection as heretolj` fore ldescribed in order to form an alining and non-rotatable connection between the two members.

With a construction such as Vwe have here-w tofore described, the box may be very expeditiously and cheaply constructed and the machine Vwork thereon reduced to a mini-- mum, so that the number of operations necessary to turnI outthef box are veryY vmate-,- rially reduced.l Furthermore, the joint kbetween the two.members being formed ofk Ythe packing material, may be out from stock packing into appropriate lengths andfwith-l out any special manipulation coiled, inserted in the Vseats and swaged home by the mandrel.r V'Ijhelj'oint produced not only excludes dirt but practically any moisture Afrom passing into the lower box and prevents the metal ofthe upper member from contacting with that of the lower member, thus guarding against la corroded joint which would prevent shifting of the members relative to each other.V ',By lapping the ring as shown, a continuous seal is provided without any breaks or:V interstices through which water can seep. j Y f Such variations as are merely Vmechanical expediente from the structure herein disclosed are to be regarded as within the range of our invention.

We claim; l

1. In aV service box, the combination of a cast pipe-like member having an annular groovemolded in its inner wall at one end thereof, and a longitudinally disposed rib cast on its innerV wall g a non-metallic packing ring in said groove so disposed that its inner periphery projects inwardly of the bore of the cast member beyond the inner peripheries of the walls of the groove to form an outstanding non-metallic bearing; anda secondwrought ironv pipe-like member slidingly lI'nounted in said cast member ing an integral lug cut and bent outwardly at its end to engage the rib on the inner wall of said cast member.

2. In a service box, thek combination of a cast pipe-like lower member having an annular groove molded in its inner wall at one end thereof, and a plurality of longitudinally disposed ribs cast on its inner wall; a non-metallic packing ring having beveled lapped ends in said groove so disposed that its inner periphery projects inwardly of the bore of the cast member beyond the inner peripheries of the walls olf the groove to form an outstanding nonmetallic bearing; and a second wroughtl pipe-like member slidingly mounted in said cast member with its outer wall taking its bearing on and in Contact only with said inwardly projecting ring, to prevent contact of metal to metal and binding of the parts due to corrosion, said second member having a plurality of lugs cut and bent outwardly at its end at separated points to engage the ribs on the inner wall of said cast member. Y y

3. In a service box, the combination of a pipe-like lower member having a longitudinally disposed rib on its inner wall; a sec-A ond pipe-like member of smaller diameter slidingly mounted in said irstnamed member and a plurality of lugs out and bent outwardly at the end of said second member to contact with the wall of said second member and center Said smaller member in said first named larger member in its longitudinal movement, said lugsA serving also to vengage said rib on the wall of said first named member and limit rotary movementv of said second member.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands.-

PHILIP MUELLER. ROBERT H. MUELLER. 

